TorrentFreak

At the end of this month a hearing will take place to help decide the fate of The Pirate Bay in Ireland. The major labels want the site blocked by a handful of ISPs that are at the moment digging in their heels and refusing to comply. The issue is particularly important, and not only for The Pirate Bay and its users. The labels have indicated to the court that they actually want more than one site blocked – in fact they have a list of 260 others.

Universal, EMI, Sony and Warner have secured a court order against a decision that had brought the music labels’ “3 strike” anti-filesharing mechanism to its knees. The four music giants will now reinstate the system at ISP Eircom and put renewed effort into spreading the practice to other ISPs in Ireland.

Having originally resisted the notion that it should stop its subscribers sharing copyright works, in a little under 4 years Ireland’s ISP Eircom has come completely about-face. Not only did it come to a private agreement with the music industry to implement a 3 strikes-style regime, but now its asking other ISPs to join them in doing so. It’s lonely being this kind of ‘pioneer’, especially when it puts your company at a commercial disadvantage.

A High Court judge who handed down an injunction in 2009 ordering an ISP to block The Pirate Bay says he was threatened by “cyber-terrorists” over his decision. Mr Justice Charlton claims that hackers threatened to steal his credit card details, plant child porn on his computer, and send call girls to his home along with mountains of pizza.

Following last year’s failed High Court bid to force an ISP to adopt a 3 strikes-style regime to deal with pirates, the Big Four record labels are set to get their way through a change in the law. If adopted, proposals published yesterday by the Irish government would allow copyright holders to hold ISPs liable for infringements and take out injunctions against them.

According to a report which has flown almost completely under the radar, last year an ISP sent out around 300 “first strike” warning letters wrongfully accusing innocent subscribers of Internet piracy. ISP Eircom implemented the scheme in partnership with the recording industry and is now being investigated by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner.

ISP Eircom, the company pioneering a 3 strikes scheme for illicit file-sharers in Ireland, has been outlining the details of the regime it will implement in conjunction with the music industry. Eircom customers will be offered a music streaming service as part of their subscription but for those who choose to continue to share files, 12 months disconnections are on the horizon.